Election re-do? AG weighs options in questioned Senate race

The Attorney General’s office said late Thursday it was reviewing a request by the state election’s watchdog that a criminal investigation be opened into allegations that a Seattle political consulting firm broke the law in trying to help labor interests defeat a conservative Democratic state senator.

The senator, who lost in the primary, has asked that the results be set aside.

The Public Disclosure Commission voted earlier Thursday to forward the case to the A.G. following a staff report released last week that showed Moxie Media’s Lisa MacLean coordinated with the Washington Federation of State Employees and labor affiliated political committees to pay for political advertising for a then-obscure conservative candidate in the 38th District Senate race.

“There is no deadline in statute for remedying this situation should further investigation warrant it. For example, a superior court could order a new election in the future if it finds that statutory criteria for overturning an election have been met. Under state election law, the court is not required to reach that decision before the upcoming general election on Nov. 2,” Janelle Guthrie, spokeswoman for Attorney General Rob McKenna, said in a statement. “At this point, the Attorney General’s Office is reviewing its options and determining our next steps.”

MacLean released a statement saying she was disappointed the case was not resolved Thursday. The commission rejected a deal with MacLean that would have involved her paying $30,000 in fines and agreeing she violated campaign contribution laws.

” But I respect the PDC’s decision to reject the agreement I reached with PDC staff, and I look forward to working with the Attorney General’s office to resolve this matter fairly and without undue delay,” she said. “Moxie Media has taken and will continue to take its compliance obligations seriously. Going forward we will make our good faith, best efforts to comply with all PDC filing requirements. I am aware that ‐ outside the formal process ­‐ various assertions have been made about what happened in this situation. This complex situation, involving significant legal ambiguities, will not – and should not ­‐ be tried in the court of public opinion. There is no place for unsubstantiated allegations and overheated claims in this process. I had expected to address this matter in more detail today, but unfortunately, given today’s development, that is not possible. I look forward to putting this matter to rest, and will have more to say at that time.”

Labor was unhappy with the incumbent, Democratic Sen. Jean Berkey. Labor preferred another Democratic candidate, Nick Harper. A third candidate, conservative Rod Reiger, was not nearly as well known as the other two.

Under the state’s Top Two system, the two candidates who get the most votes in the primary advance to the general election, regardless of party. Apparently concerned that Berkey would make it through the primary, Moxie Media and labor interests reportedly decided to pump up Reiger’s candidacy to try to make sure he was the candidate Harper would face in November.

“In written communications to her clients, Ms. MacLean clearly stated her intent to obscure the clients’ sponsorship of postcards and robocalls that attacked Senator Berkey from the right, a strategy that all concerned understood to be controversial,” the PDC report said. “Ms. MacLean promised her clients that they would not b connected to the project until after the August 17, 2010, primary.”

In the primary, Harper finished with 35 percent of the vote and Reiger got 32.75. Berkey finished third, just behind Reiger.

The watchdog report says MacLean established two layers of political committees to sponsor $9,000 in anti-Berkey postcards and robocalls.

The PDC says MacLean and Moxie violated state laws by not properly identifying funding sources or properly disclose MacLean and the consulting firm’s role.